Duc

A roofless duc is a gala, two-person carriage drawn by four or two horses in hand by postilions from saddles in the à la d’Aumont style. The presented carriage was purchased in the 1880s in Hofwagenfabrik Marius in Vienna, the supplier for the royal court. This gala duc without a roof and with the main seat for two persons and a bench for one assisting servant at the rear was the most exquisite carriage in the coach house of the Potocki family in Łańcut, until the moment when Alfred Antoni Potocki inherited a câleche à la d’Aumont from Mikołaj Potocki. The roofless duc is a type of gala carriage driven in the impressive à la d’Aumont mode. Two riders drive the carriage sitting on the left horses of the pairs; they are called postilions. They are dressed in short jackets with golden frog fasteners, white trousers tucked inside boots made of yellow leather with collars; they are wearing riding caps with flat pompoms made of golden string. The postilions controlled the duc with the use of short whips. Similarly to the driving in à la d’Aumont style, such carriages are still used today at the royal courts in Europe during important ceremonies. The roofless duc from Łańcut has a light body with rounded lower line, openwork in the seating section, with side walls lined with rattan mesh, with an impressive fender on a frame made of black leather at the front and with two small lanterns made of brass sheet in the front corners. The chassis is black with subtle yellow stripes. The main seat and the mattress for the footman’s box are upholstered with dark blue cloth. The roofless duc of the Potocki family is the only carriage of this type in Europe. It has been preserved in the original form, which is also quite exceptional. Aldona Cholewianka-Kruszyńska